ML Source's & Denon

[djc]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker. I currently own a pair of Montages. Love them! However I am eyeing a pair of Sources since they are down to ~1350 a pair. My concern is powering them with my Denon 3808ci receiver and wondering if they would be underpowered with such a device. I have also read about impedance changes with the panels that may be a problem with the Denon (someone is claiming to have 'burned out' a few Denons, but who knows if they were doing something else wrong...).

This is for a living room HT/music area, not a dedicated HT so I don't have a whole lot of room to work with (amps, etc). Mainly used for casual music and movie watching.

Can the 3808ci power the ML Sources sufficiently? An Emotiva XPA-2 would be ideal, but is it necessary?

I'd love the Purity's, but they're out of the price range unfortunately.

 

[projectormovielover]

Yes the denon will power them fine

Alot of folks tell you they sound better with an amp and its true but they still sound amazing with a receiver .I had source hooked up to an onkyo 606 and it was fantastic with plenty of power for a medium room at moderate level listening

If loud music is your into then get an amp and a pre but if your just running a movie then the denon will be fine as the new ML line is very efficient

 

[djc]

Thanks for your quick reply. I saw a pair at Magnolia being demoed on a Denon and they sounded good, but didn't see a huge difference between them and my Montages... but then again, this was in a store and no properly EQ'd receiver. Should I expect a noticeable difference with the Source's and the Denon?

I looked into the Emotiva XPA-2, however it will not fit in my recently purchased TV cabinet... that was recently purchased due to my new TV. The 19" depth is an issue. Are there any other good and reasonable amps to look at that may have a shorter depth?

 

[shakham]

Thanks for your quick reply. I saw a pair at Magnolia being demoed on a Denon and they sounded good, but didn't see a huge difference between them and my Montages... but then again, this was in a store and no properly EQ'd receiver. Should I expect a noticeable difference with the Source's and the Denon?

I looked into the Emotiva XPA-2, however it will not fit in my recently purchased TV cabinet... that was recently purchased due to my new TV. The 19" depth is an issue. Are there any other good and reasonable amps to look at that may have a shorter depth?

In the XPA-2 price-range, you can look into the Sunfire Ultimate Receiver, or the Sunfire Cinema Grand amplifier. They both are under 17" deep. For the Cinema Grand there is a regular 19" wide, and an Architect's Choice that is 17" wide.

 

[projectormovielover]

Thanks for your quick reply. I saw a pair at Magnolia being demoed on a Denon and they sounded good, but didn't see a huge difference between them and my Montages... but then again, this was in a store and no properly EQ'd receiver. Should I expect a noticeable difference with the Source's and the Denon?

I looked into the Emotiva XPA-2, however it will not fit in my recently purchased TV cabinet... that was recently purchased due to my new TV. The 19" depth is an issue. Are there any other good and reasonable amps to look at that may have a shorter depth?

Your going to notice a huge diff with the source speakers in comparison to the montage , especially on music and a properly setup HT rig .

 

[FotoJohn]

I am running Source speakers via an Onkyo rc270 at 100w a channel and they sound fine.

Have a Motion 6 center and 2 motion 2 rears and watched Avatar last night a decent sound level and the AVR did fine.

I am sure an amp would improve the sound, especially at higher levels, but so far I am very happy with what I am getting with just an AVR.

 

[djc]

Thanks for the reply and feedback everyone.

I found a pair of Puritys for $1299ea and I'm thinking I may just go this route. The Sources are the better price point, but the powered solution may just be what works best for me.

Decisions!

 

[projectormovielover]

Thanks for the reply and feedback everyone.

I found a pair of Puritys for $1299ea and I'm thinking I may just go this route. The Sources are the better price point, but the powered solution may just be what works best for me.

Decisions!

You could buy a used 1200 amp that would beat the crap outa them purity . Why not just buy a wired 4 sound ice amp ? .Thats what is inside the purity anyways ?

Consider the fact that the purity does not hav balanced connectors and may hinder performance using a longer run

 

[shakham]

You could buy a used 1200 amp that would beat the crap outa them purity . Why not just buy a wired 4 sound ice amp ? .Thats what is inside the purity anyways ?

Consider the fact that the purity does not hav balanced connectors and may hinder performance using a longer run

Aren't they probably using the same amp in the Purity / Vantage / Spire / Summit? Well...2 of them for the Spire and Summit.

I do wonder if the 2 x 6.5" woofers of the Purity sound better than the single 8" of the source. I would tend to think the Source would go lower.

The Vantage doesn't have balanced interconnects either...I don't know about the Spire/Summit.

 

[Thai]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker. I currently own a pair of Montages. Love them! However I am eyeing a pair of Sources since they are down to ~1350 a pair. My concern is powering them with my Denon 3808ci receiver and wondering if they would be underpowered with such a device. I have also read about impedance changes with the panels that may be a problem with the Denon (someone is claiming to have 'burned out' a few Denons, but who knows if they were doing something else wrong...).

This is for a living room HT/music area, not a dedicated HT so I don't have a whole lot of room to work with (amps, etc). Mainly used for casual music and movie watching.

Can the 3808ci power the ML Sources sufficiently? An Emotiva XPA-2 would be ideal, but is it necessary?

I'd love the Purity's, but they're out of the price range unfortunately.

I had my denon 4306 powering my Stage and Vantage fine for several years. Never had a problem. I did not turn up real loud, but never had any issue.

 

[JRace]

My 4308 was powering a pair of Vista's and a Stage without issue for the last year +.

Just added a Parasound 5250v.2. Nice improvement, but not necessary. Interestingly the Denon runs hotter than the Parasound even though it is not powering any speakers.

 

[DaveS0811]

Just like you, I'm a long time lurker and in the past 2 years I've started building my system. Also, just like you I use my system everytime my TV turns on... satellite TV, HT, movies and music (SACD, Blu Ray concerts and internet streaming).

I currently have a Motif center, Vantage left and right, Fresco i's in the rear and a non-ML sub (Focal). All of this is powered by a Denon 3310ci. I would agree with everyone the system would sound much better if I used dedicated components, but with a HT setup a receiver w/ 100+ watts is fine... the more power the better. When I first started buying ML's, I had the Source as my front left and right, and a Fresco I as the center. It sounded nice, but the sweet spot for movies was very small. Then I upgraded the Source to the Preface and the sweet spot and imaging was bigger, but I was missing the clarity. Then I saved up a year, went all out and got the Motif and Vantages... now I'm happy.

Long story short... Get what makes you happy, and yes the Denon 3808ci is plenty for HT.

 

[djc]

Thanks everyone for your replies and sharing your suggestions and experiences. I ended up demoing a pair of Purity speakers and they were AMAZING! Definitely blew the Montages away. I have ruled out the Source speakers due to the recent introduction of the Electromotions and now my debate is between those and the Purity's. The price is the same and have not yet determined if the older model w/amp or the newer larger panel is right for me. I hope to find a dealer with the EM's in stock to get a demo.

Meanwhile, searching for amps in case I go with the EM's has begun.